Mardy Fish, a California resident used to earthquakes, said that experience helped him maintain his composure during Hurricane Irene this past weekend. He certainly looked cool and calm yesterday afternoon after his 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 trouncing of Tobias Kamke in the first round of the U.S. Open.

Hurricane Irene actually helped Fish, since there was not much preparation going on Sunday during the storm, so he used it as another day of rest.

“No one did anything [Sunday],” he said. “To be honest, it was pretty nice. You’ve never had an easier Sunday before a slam. We just stayed in the room and did a little treatment. It was great.”

The eighth-ranked player in the world wasted no time yesterday, dropping only five games in a match that took an hour and 43 minutes. Call yesterday the calm before the storm, as Fish is on track to face Roger Federer in the quarterfinals.

“I think it’s probably pretty easy to say this is one of the biggest tournaments I’ve ever played in,” he said. “I’ve never come into a Grand Slam ranked higher.”

In 2009, he missed the U.S. Open with a rib injury, then had knee surgery and lost 30 pounds in the offseason. The change in fitness has helped him become faster and build more endurance, which has led to the rise in his game.

“It’s a great experience for me to be in this position,” Fish said. “I’m having a ton of fun with it, but sometimes I feel like I’m playing with house money, just because I never would have imagined two years ago in 2009 that I’d be in this position.”

The position he refers to is a Top-10 seed in the U.S. Open, and being the highest-ranking American. Fish is playing the best tennis of his career, and outside of Novak Djokovic, is one of the hottest players right now. He showed why he is the best hope the Americans have to end the U.S. Grand Slam major drought, nearly eight years since Andy Roddick’s 2003 U.S. Open victory.

When the day started, there were 14 American men in the field. Fish was the only one of the three playing on Day 1 to come away with a victory. The other two Americans were Ryan Harrison and Michael Yani, both qualifiers who were defeated.

“It’s a great camaraderie-type court with the crowd there,” he said. “They can get extremely loud and back you 100 percent.”